The current phase of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue will last at least till Friday, said chief South Korean negotiator Song Min-soon in Beijing on Tuesday evening.

The six parties - China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the US - held their first chief negotiators' meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse yesterday afternoon.

The meeting was chaired by Chinese delegation head Wu Dawei, and the parties held bilateral consultations beforehand.

Song said the parties would determine the actual closing date according to progress of the talks.

Liu Jianchao, spokesperson for the Chinese delegation, said the talks would involve "substantial discussions" from Wednesday and "will not last too long."

Alexander Alexeyev, Russian delegation head, said all the parties expected the talks to end at an early date, saying they held a "prudently optimistic" attitude toward their progress.

US chief negotiator Christopher Hill told reporters upon arrival that the closing date of the talks could only be decided through discussion.

According to Liu, all six delegation heads demonstrated a strong desire for the signing of a common document on the basis of the draft proposed by China in the first-phase of the talks.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2005)